The home movie footage that caught the assassination of the American President, John F. Kennedy.I had assumed that I had seen this film a dozen times, maybe one hundred times. But I guess I was seeing lower grade copies, and probably just clips, Seeing the complete film, with its 2012 remastering... wow. I had no idea the film was so nasty and gory. It may be one of the more disturbing things you will ever see, and definitely the most disturbing to be considered worth preserving by the Library of Congress.The version I saw also had commentary, which seemed a bit questionable, such as the crowd chasing the assassin up the grassy knoll. Was that Zapruder talking or added later? I presume the latter.

Zapruder Film of Kennedy Assassination (1963) It's impossible to "review" this 39-second clip but I think it's safe to say it's probably the most shocking and violent footage that was out there up until 9/11 hit. There's no denying the importance of this film and it's easy to say it's one of the most important bits of footage ever captured and one really has to wonder what would history be like had Abraham Zapruder not been there in Dallas that day filming. I mean, can you imagine if this footage was never shot or if it was never released to the public? These 39-seconds are without question rather hard to watch and it's just amazing that all the key moments of the assassination are captured and at such a good location. I've heard rumors from various conspiracy theories that there's actually more footage but there were bits and pieces removed that clearly showed that there were more shots fired. How true this here actually is will never be know just like the countless other theories out there. There's no audio but that's probably a good thing. Can you imagine the screams and all the chaos that would have been captured even perhaps the words of Zapruder?

The most significant fact is that this film does not show anyone actually shooting. It only shows impacts of bullets after they are fired. So you only get half the story of the Kennedy assassination, if that much.In fact, there are no films or photographs of anyone in the act of firing a gun in Dealy Plaza that day.The Zapruder film also does not show any alleged shooters fleeing the area.Actually the Zapruder film completely misses one man getting shot there, a bystander named Tague. Neither shooter nor shot impact are shown on Zapruder film for Tague, who represents 1/3 of the total number of persons shot in Dealy Plaza.It also does not show an impact on a cement curb, which was chipped by a bullet according to police.The only gun shown is a large gun being lifted off the floor of the Secret Service car by an agent, who never used it. I think you get to see a brief glimpse of this one unused weapon, but that's all you get gun-wise.Immediately after the shooting, the police raced to the alleged room where the shooter was and found: nobody.

While the historic significance of this film is beyond critique, one should also give Herr Zapruder credit for his brilliant cinematography.First off he picked one of the best spots to get his shot. Given that he suffered from vertigo one should also credit his willingness to sacrifice his own personal well-being in the service of Art. While he wasn't able to get fully above the Stemmoms Freeway sign, one can only do so much with the set one is given.Second of note is his directorial decision to cut when he realised he'd filmed the motorcade too soon. This meant that virtually all of the assassination would be covered in the 30 second allotment covered by the spring wound camera drive mechanism.The fact that he was able to keep rolling as all Hell broke loose in Dealey Plaza even has he himself was reacting to the events should've gotten him a press photography award.It should be noted that Oswald was almost 3x as far away from Zapruder than any proposed second gunman - he was practically right on top of the so-called Grassy Knoll area and within steps of any plausible sniper lair. One would expect that upon hearing an unsuppressed gunshot from right behind and under him, Zapruder would've whipped around to get a shot. That he didn't should say something about the veracity of 'second gunman' claims.At any rate you can tell that the fatal bullet came from behind by a slight forward head movement in the same moment JFK loses the piano lessons - and I was using footage available at a pro-conspiracy site.